‘Arrow’ Recap ‘Penance’

There is one phrase that has always been embedded in my mind ever since I joined the military, and that is that you never leave behind a fallen comrade. I believe so strongly in this principal, that I even have a tattoo of it on my arm. In this episode of Arrow, titled ‘Penance’, we learned that Oliver has the exact same morals. He never leaves a fallen comrade behind, especially someone who is like a brother to him.

The episode opened as usual with Team Arrow chasing a thief through Star City. Seems to be a common trend these days. Not saying I mind, though! I love seeing our favorite heroes and heroines kicking some butt. The entire team was present, with the exception of Ragman. Last week we saw Felicity disclose the truth to him about what really happened in Haven Rock, and judging by his facial expression, it completely crushed him.

Oliver gave orders to his team to allow Artemis (Evelyn Sharp) to take a shot at the enemy, but as a plans seem to go with Team Arrow, this one went far astray. Wild Dog elected to intervene and fire first (and completely miss), which resulted in Curtis taking a heavy beating after he attempted to tackle the their. Thankfully, Oliver swooped in and saved Curtis, and then told everyone they’re taking a few days off. Which as you can guess, they were not pleased about.

 

Oliver headed back to his campaign office following the mission and he wound up running into Rory, who was waiting for him. Rory told Oliver that he quitting the team, as Felicity reminds him too much of everyone he lost back home. Shortly after Oliver headed down to the Arrow Cave and had a discussion with Felicity about Rory’s decision, Lyla entered the Arrow Cave.  She and Oliver tell Felicity that they have a plan to break John out of prison, but Felicity was seemingly completely against it (especially since John himself didn’t seem to want to agree to the plan). Lyla asks to speak to Oliver privately and she tells him that at Palmer Tech there is a new piece of technology called an anti-molecular compound, and that it would assist them in their plan to break John out of prison. Oliver agreed to the plan, but kept the information from Felicity.

In his mayoral office Oliver holds a meeting with Thea, Lance and Adrian. Oliver claimed that he had a case of gout, and that he needs to take a He tasks Adrian and Lance to keep building a case against Tobias Church, and to lock up all of the evidence he has. Lance seemed minorly unhappy about being tasked as a baby sitter, but Oliver told Lance he is one of the few people that Oliver trusts.

After breaking into Palmer Tech to steal the anti-molecular compound, Oliver returned to the Arrow Cave and he and Felicity continued to argue on Oliver’s decision to break Diggle out of prison. Oliver told her that Diggle is his task, his brother, and that she should turn her attention and focus into talking to Rory instead.

Lance and Adrian take the evidence in the Church case to evidence storage to lock everything up, and you could tell by Lance’s behavior that something was up. He should have trusted his instincts. The processor wound up being a bomb, which detonated, and allowed Church to break into the evidence locker and steal some heavy weaponry and ammunition; before he ordered his men to torch the place. Thankfully, by the grace of God, Lance and Adrian were able to escape.

As Oliver makes way to head out of town, his team meets him in the middle of the street. They tell Oliver that they are a team and that they should be making these decisions together. They also tell Oliver that they are not going to let him leave. The team jumps into a minor fistfight, which results in Oliver getting away. Back at the Arrow cave, Felicity tells Team Arrow 2.0 that the reason she sent them out there was because she thought if Oliver saw them united as a team, it would give him motivation to not go through with his plan. As they discuss their next option, Thea and Quentin show up to tell them about Church’s prison break. Felicity tells the team to hit the street and find out what Church is going to do.

Lyla poses as a Army truck driver to get  onto the prison property, while and Oliver sneaks inside the prison itself by hiding in some laundry. He rigs the camera system so Lyla can guide him to Diggle’s cell. But when Oliver gets to the cell, it turns out he’s been transferred to the prison’s general population, which means that if Oliver is going to get Diggle out, he’s got to act fast.

Felicity winds up finding Rory and apologizes to him, as an attempt to get him to come back to the Team. Rory states while he appreciates her honesty, he can’t muster the courage to do it. While talking with Rory, she gets a text from Curtis and learns that Church is going to go after Star City’s Anti-Crime Unit, which was established by Oliver. Felicity hesitates with her decision to send the team in the field, but Rory shows and up tells her that it’s time to stop Church and his men.

Oliver finds Diggle in his cell, shortly after Diggle gets back from the general population cell. Oliver drops down from the ceiling, and after a few minutes of bickering with Diggle tells him that if he needs penance, he should do it as Spartan and not as a prisoner. Diggle agrees to go with Oliver, so Oliver uses the anti-molecular agent to create a hole in the floor for them to escape.

Oliver and Diggle escape through the sewers and climb into the prison yard, where a C-130 lifts them up off the ground just as the prison guards start to close in on them.

Team Arrow 2.0  arrived at the scene where the Anti-Crime Unit was and rescued Adrian and the rest of the police force from Church and his men. Just as the team is about to escape, Church tosses a knife into Curtis’s back. Wild Dog tells Artemis to get Curtis and Rory out of there, and to leave Church to him. They fight for a few minutes, but Church gets the upper hand and beats Wild Dog down while the rest of the team escapes. Lance arrives in a large van to grab Artemis, Mr. Terrific and Ragman, but Wild Dog gets left behind.

Lyla and Oliver take Diggle into an what is left of the old H.I.V.E headquarters, as a means to keep him safe. Oliver heads out to his office and learns that Tobias Church has Wild Dog hostage. After hearing this news, Oliver heads back to the Arrow Cave and tells his team that they have a new mission. They are going to save their fallen battle.

The episode ends with Church having Wild Dog tied up to the ceiling, telling him that he’s going to leave very little for the Green Arrow to find.

Flashback Oliver

Anatoly and Oliver hatch a plan to interrogate one of Kovar’s men, and by plan… I mean an insane one. Anatoly pours vodka on Oliver, and tells him that he knows what to do. Oliver poses as a drunk and begins kicking a police car, so that he gets arrested. In a holding cell, Oliver talks to one of Kovar’s men. He threatens the mans family, telling him that he is Bratva. The man gives him the IP address to a “digital deaddrop” to contact Kovar. Oliver then snaps the mans neck and kills him.

After he is released, Oliver tells Anatoly he completed the mission. Anatoly smiles, telling Oliver that he has passed the third test and he has earned the trust and a place with the Bratva.

A Few Thoughts

I don’t know about anyone else, but there is something really shady about Oliver’s D.A. Am I the only one who thinks that?! Also, I’m so excited to finally have Diggle back on the team. After this week, I’m hoping to see some of the other original team arrow members slowly come back into play. I highly enjoy this new team (although Wild Dog’s attitude still bothers me), but the original will always be my favorite!

 

Arrow returns Wednesday, November 2nd at 8PM/EST on the CW.